Second Hand News

We have an attitude to second hand goods. A mixed one too, because we are human beings and we are rarely consistent or logical when emotions are added to the equation.

EBay and the zillions of selling pages on sites like Facebook prove that we all hate throwing things away if we can get a few quid for them. Some of the things you see for sale are astonishing but if we can squeeze a few quid out of our waste, why not?

Buying things second hand is more confusing. Many people like a bargain. I wore my fair share of Jumble sale clothes as a child and it never did me any harm and my son has grown out of many things having worn them only once. But on the other hand, do we really want to wear someone else’s cast offs? Do we trust them?

With IT equipment, sustainability has created a second hand market. It is quite healthy and getting healthier as businesses realise that they can pick up some incredible bargains. And it is something that is bound to filter through to the consumer in the end.

EReco PAT test everything we re-sell, clean things up and where applicable load new software. You also get a 14 day money back guarantee. Prices vary obviously, according to demand and the quality of the item being sold, but compared with new prices, these are serious savings.

Not all businesses need to be state of the art. Just as we pass cars and vans and trucks down the food chain, so we should IT equipment of all sorts. Not only is it sustainable, but it minimises capital outlay in business terms.

If this market continues to grow it will also encourage those that do need state of the art kit to refresh more often. The revenue they could make from the sale of the old will help pay for the new in exactly the same way as vehicles.

The truth about our sector at present is that many of the devices we receive are the equivalent of a clapped out Ford approaching 100,000 miles on the clock. The bottom end of the second hand market can see old desktops selling for £20 – better than nothing but not a sum that is going to get anyone rushing to the sales.

And of course the market for PC’s and laptops is changing – fast. In the not too distant future they will become business items again, as consumers turn to tablets and phones. The only people who have computers at home will be those – like me – who use them for a particular purpose (in my case writing novels, blogs and tweets). My son would certainly much prefer a tablet to a laptop, although his education may change his mind for the next couple of years. And I suspect that because he will only see a laptop as a means to write boring essays, he will not care if it is second hand, as long as it works. He will be doing everything else (the things he really wants to do) on his phone, iPod or iPad.

In this fast changing landscape, only one thing is for sure. If you are in the market for new kit, don’t forget the second-hand option.